


Care For The Dead

by SirCookieton



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020), Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: I've never written an OC before rip, Is dirge cannon in this fic? no clue, Is there a tag for morticians?, Multi, OC-centric, Original Character(s), Tagging as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24798196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirCookieton/pseuds/SirCookieton
Summary: First and foremost, Elijah Hunt was a doctor, he helped those who needed it and without hesitation. But what the hell was he meant to do when he's asked to take care of the bodies that were used as experiment subjects by Shinra?I don't know what's summary is but thank you to Seth for beta-reading!!!
Relationships: Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife, Zack Fair & Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please note it's been a long time since I last watched Advent Children and I don't know if Dirge will be cannon to this story...Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

It was one thing to receive an email from a corporation that was practically non-existent at this point, and another to be asked to do a task he was certain nobody would agree to.

You couldn’t pay him a million Gil to work for Shinra again, he thought he’d rather die than even think about doing it. Even so, as he leaned back and re-read the email presented to him on the monitor, Elijah Hunt couldn’t help but run his hand through his hair out of frustration. Why the hell were they bothering to contact him now of all times? And to do their dirty-work no less. Didn’t they realise a pandemic was going on? Reading once, twice and a third time, he was about to delete the email and forget about it completely, when his phone let out a buzzing sound. 

Reluctantly, Elijah took a sip of his coffee and answered the call.

“At the very least, consider our offer, Hunt.” A voice immediately bled through the phone as soon as it went to his ear. 

He was being watched. Of fucking course. So much for privacy.

“What do you want?” He demanded, deciding he hadn’t had nearly enough coffee yet to even be thinking this, let alone processing it as a human should.

“Did you not read the email?” The voice was calm and collected as if he knew what Elijah was going to say. 

Elijah would have just thrown his monitor out of the window out of defiance there and then, but they really were too expensive to replace in this day and age. Silence filled the room for a moment, and his brain suggested simply hanging up. But of course, Shinra, if anything, was persistent. Better to get it over and done with now. 

“...I did. And the answer’s no.”

“Would talking in person to discuss the matter be of use to you?” 

Groaning, Elijah stood up out of his seat and walked to the window of the office he was sat in. Observing the streets below him, he looked out for any trademark black suits of the Turks, not really caring if he was seen or not. Glancing through the street and above the rooftops, the voice on the phone spoke once again. “We can always negotiate for your cooperation.” 

He couldn’t help but scoff as he leaned against the window, still looking. They really did like to stay hidden. “Like you have anything I want. The answer’s no, and it's staying no, okay?”. Finally, he spotted a black suit, blending in with the shadows of an alleyway, looking up at him. The caller shifted and upon making eye contact with Elijah, gave him a smile which was nothing less than condescending.

"You're a doctor, are you not?" and just like that, Elijah felt like he’d been stabbed. His chest began to hurt as fear spread throughout his body. Of course he was, it was perhaps all he had ever been, maybe not a good one, maybe he was even less than his title. A man who had just wanted to help, even in the midst of a bloody, bloody war. Swallowing his panic, he knew the Turk had seen his change in expression. 

“I am.” Was all he could answer, his grip tightening on his phone with every passing moment.

“Then it’s your duty to help those in need, correct?”

The bastard.

Resisting the urge to swallow once again, he tried to keep his expression neutral, although it was a losing battle.

“It is.” 

“Then how about this. Cooperate, and funding and equipment will be provided for your clinic. How does that sound, Hunt?”

How fucking dare he use his work and patients against him.

“...I…” Taking the phone away from his ear for a moment and almost crushing it against his chest, Eli bit his lip and took a breath. “You know a bar called Seventh Heaven? Meet me there when it opens tomorrow, don’t be late and we’ll talk.”

Even at a distance away, he could see the ghost of a smile on the man’s face. “Very well.” He hung up and Eli watched him disappear into the shadows.

~~~~

The day passed painfully slowly, with Eli too wrapped up in his thoughts, but he tried his best to keep a smile for his patients, some showing signs of the mysterious Geostigma. There was no cure, of course. And it still hurt badly every time he had to tell someone, either it be, the patient themself, a parent, any kind of loved one, that they wouldn’t have much time left and to make the most of it while they could.

Children were always the hardest to break the news to.

Although, most of them seemed to understand what was going on at this point, unlike two years ago when it was so new and unknown that nobody had a clue. Not like that had changed in any kind of way…

Several hours and cups of coffee later, Eli sighed as he closed up the clinic, the Turk’s words hanging heavy in his mind. He knew he couldn’t continue on how he had managed to do so- with bills and the costs of medical supplies being high. He never charged anyone under the age of eighteen. All of them, too young and lost in the world to have to worry about things like choosing between food and their health. He hoped the WRO would figure out to make that no longer a problem soon.

Collapsing into his chair, he glanced to the clock, five-thirty, with the sun just beginning to set. The doctor pondered over his words for a second, wondering what had even made him agree to a meeting with Shinra. It was obvious they were manipulating him for their own gain, but what they wanted was only vague in the email. 

‘Clearing out former experiment subjects, urgent matter; in need of a medical professional.’ 

How the hell was he meant to know what those scientists were thinking with...whatever they did with Shinra. Eli wasn’t sure if victims would even be recognisable, being subject to unknown torture throughout the scientists’ careers. Or even human anymore, for that matter, and that wasn’t even factoring in decay.

Despite the disturbing thoughts, he could feel his eyes closing, so reluctantly, Elijah stood up and walked over to the window, glancing back into the emptying street, in search of a suit, to no avail. Satisfied he would at least get peace for the night, he pulled his blinds shut.

~~~~

To say Elijah was nervous would be an understatement. He was fucking terrified. He hadn’t spoken to a Shinra official in years and when he had left, it wasn’t an amicable separation. God knows if this was some elaborate trap to have him shot.

Upon arriving at the bar, he noticed the sign on the door.

`Temporarily closed for a private event.’

‘Are you fucking kidding me?’ He thought, turning around to simply go back home and forget about the whole matter. Can’t have a meeting if the said meeting place is shut.

Instead, he came face to face with a red-haired Turk.

“Yo.”

“Hu-?” 

“The boss is waiting inside for you.” He said with a smirk appearing on his face. Stunned and standing still for a moment, Eli backed up at the shooing motion of the Turk. “Go on, don’t be shy.”

So much for meeting in a public space for safety.

Grudgingly, he slowly opened the door and took note of the interior before stepping inside. It was empty, save for the woman working behind the bar, cleaning glasses and setting them aside as she turned around to face him.

“Uh...Hi, I’m meant to be meeting someone here-?”

“Oh! You must be Reeve’s friend, please sit down. Would you like a drink?” Perhaps it was years dealing with patients that told him something was off in her voice, she was nervous like she expected him to do something terrible. Then again, he assumed that was the norm when you’re meeting up with Turks

“I’m good, thanks.” He calmly said, and sat down n a seat at a table near the middle of the bar, hoping he wouldn’t get attacked from behind. Glancing around, he let his thoughts run freely. Who the hell was Reeve And hadn’t that guy said his boss was waiting inside? Where was he?

Just as he was about to ask the barmaid if she knew where the guy he was meant to meet was, two men walked in through the entrance. One he immediately recognised as the man who was watching him the previous day, the other, being the leader of the WRO, Reeve Tuesti. Oh. That Reeve. Why was he here? What did he have to do with this? Glancing down to him briefly, Reeve glanced back up to Tifa.

“Tifa, it’s been a while…” Reeve smiled, stepping towards the bar to greet, assumably, his friend. 

“Reeve! It has, how have you been?” She asked, glancing nervously to Eli and then to the Turk standing nearby.

“I’ve been well. Thank you for allowing me to use your business as a meeting place.” 

“No problem, do you need anything while I’m here? Or…”

“We should be fine, thank you.” 

Elijah kept his eyes firmly on the Turk before him, keeping an eye out for any attack. As if sensing his unrest, the Turk raised his hand as if to calm him. “Please do not worry, no one here means to bring any harm to you.” All he could do in response was give a quiet ‘hm’ sound.

Moments later, Reeve sat down, with the Turk settling down beside him. A moment of silence was shared over, unsure of who was going to speak first. Finally, Reeve shifted.

“Mr Hunt-”

“Elijah.” He hated being called by his last name.

“Ah, sorry. Elijah. As I’m sure you’re aware, regarding the email that was sent to you yesterday-”

“What do you want?” If he had wanted to, Eli could have been a very patient person, but when Shinra was involved, that patience was non-existent. 

Reeve looked apprehensive for a moment, then spoke up after he looked like he was choosing his words carefully.

“Recently, we have begun going through the old Shinra building, as as you may be aware, Shinra held experiments, using humans as test subjects-”

“You better not fucking tell me you want me to continue on their work.” Was the building even structurally safe?

The WRO’s leader seemed taken aback before sighing as if he was used to being treated harshly. He probably was, since he had worked for Shinra himself.

“No. not at all…” Reeve stopped once more, looking Elijah in the eyes. Eli himself wasn’t sure what he was looking before, but after a few moments, Tuesti seemed satisfied “We want you to help dispose of them.”

That much was obvious from the email, but the way he had said it was soft, too concerned for malicious intent. Glancing down at the table, Eli thought it was strange. He understood the need to have a medical professional on hand to make sure things were safe for workers in the event that one of Shinra’s creations were miraculously alive and ended up eating someone for a meal after years of being contained, but what he couldn’t understand was, why him? Why not a Turk, who was most likely medical trained and could handle any kind of threat easily?

Reeve continued. “A majority of human subjects were either former SOLDIER’s or people who got on Shinra’s bad side, and we feel that… in order to be given some peace, they need to be disposed of respectfully. To be laid to rest-” 

“A mortician. You want me to be a mortician.”

“...Yes.” 

There it was, the simple answer. But if anything, it left him even more confused as to why the WRO and Shinra chose him of all people, and instead of an actual mortician no less.

“Why me?”

It was the Turk who answered this time. “Your record.” Upon speaking, he pulled out a file from Gaia knows where and set it open. Pushing it towards Eli with a fluent, practised motion. “Towards the end of the war, you were deployed to Wutai as a medical student, correct?” He didn’t even have to glance down at the file to know the Turk’s words were correct, so he opted to give a small nod in response. “But, about a year later, you were discharged because-”

“I was doing my job.” Elijah didn’t have any regrets, not then, not ever, and certainly not now in the face of Shinra. “What does that matter?”

Reeve looked at him, no annoyance or hate in his expression, but rather, respect. A rare thing from authority figures. “Because we know that regardless of who they are or were, you’ll treat them with respect and look past what has been done. The same way you did during the war when you treated Wutain soldiers as well as Shinra troops.” Yeah, Shinra really hated him for that. “I understand why you would be wary of us, especially after your history with Shinra, but… we need someone we know we can trust to do the right thing, and you… seemed to be the optimal candidate.”

Eli Rested on his hands, clasped together tightly, quietly mulling over every word that was spoken. “Optimal Candidate? All I did was my job as a doctor, help those who need it regardless of who they are or where they’re from. And for that, I’m the best person for the job? For having morals?”

He knew he was being difficult. That everyone was quickly becoming frustrated with little progress. But he had to know. If he was even going to consider working for Shinra, they had to have a very good reason to take him away from his work, even if it was only temporarily. Too many people needed help in a world that was only just beginning to fix itself.

Leaning back in his chair, Eli sighed. “And either way, even if you did give me funding and supplies, wouldn’t be taking me away from the clinic kind of destroy the point of working with you in the first place. I’m the only doctor there and I can’t tend to patients if I’m not there.”

The WRO’s leader looked as if he was thinking for a moment. “Then how about this, during the day you work at your clinic as you usually would, and during the evening you work with us. You’ll be paid, not only with supplies as you were informed but with a salary which should be enough, considering the risk.”

His first thought on the matter was ‘Do these guys not sleep?’, but it was soon changed to the concern of his patients. It was a risk on his life, choosing to work for Shinra, he knew, but it was also a risk of people losing their lives. There was also always the risk he could lose the clinic too, then what would he do? Funding was almost too good to reject. Eli knew he couldn't throw away other’s lives over the fact he was still bitter towards Shinra.

He didn’t have to like working for them, he knew. He only had to hold on long enough so he could help more people. So what if he lost a little sleep in the process? 

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Both Reeve and the Turk seemed taken aback at his sudden change of heart. “On one-no, two conditions.”

“Yes?”

“One, my clinic takes priority in my work, so if there’s an event where my clinic requires my attention- that overrules my work with you.” He stated, looking carefully between them. “Secondly, I have the option to quit if I see or am doing something I don’t like. For example something unethical or working in a structurally unsafe building.”

Eli has expected either one of them to object, at least to the building part, but they both seemed to nod in agreement.

“That seems reasonable… Now that we’re in agreement, how about we discuss the details of your work with us.”

Yeah, needless to say, the paycheck and funding were a lot higher than he had expected.

~~~~

Six in the afternoon till eleven at night. That was the agreement. 

It fit almost perfectly around his duties at the clinic from 9 till 5, even if it did give only an hour to feed himself and get himself over to the decrepit Shinra building. Walking in wasn’t a problem, he showed the pass he had got from the Turk (Tseng, he had learnt his name was.) and they let him right in. 

The lobby of the former Shinra Electric Company had seen better days for sure, bits of glass were piled up around the edges where the skylights and windows had smashed and swept aside, probably because nobody knew what to do with that amount of glass. There were guards stationed in random spots around the lobby, most of them looking tired or annoyed they were forced on lookout duty. Looking around, he saw about three people in the reception booth, the computers still somehow working along with the remaining lights.

Informing the receptionists of his identity, Elijah was told to wait, but of course, all the seats were probably long gone so all he could do was stand around awkwardly while he waited for whoever to come. 

I mean, you would think Shinra would have a lot of chairs but apparently not after two years. Who had ever wanted all those chairs? Probably the WRO to fill up their own offices and buildings they had made. Free chairs for them, he guessed.

Rufus Shinra now probably owned 80 percent less chairs now, wherever the hell he was these days. Probably sitting in one of the last 20 percent of chairs he still had.

Lost in his thoughts of chairs and his plans to hunt down Rufus Shinra, he hadn’t noticed being approached by Reeve, and a different Turk then Tseng. 

“...Mr-Elijah?” Reeve quickly corrected himself as he greeted Eli.

“Huh? Oh...hi.” Why did that have to sound so awkward? Probably because he was thinking of trying to murder their former boss.

“I hope you are doing well.” 

“I am, thanks...you?”

“I am fine…”

They both were extremely awkward, aren't they?

After a moment of silence, neither of them sure how to start, Eli nodded towards the Turk. “And you are?”

The Turk perked up slightly as if he hadn’t expected to be noticed, let alone talked to. Clearing his throat, he spoke. “Rude.”

“Excuse me?” Had he done something wrong? Had he come across as too impolite?

“My name.”

“Oh.” That makes sense. “Pleasure to meet you, uh, Rude.” the Turk only nodded in response. 

Well, this was an awkward start.

Clearing his throat, Reeve smiled. “If you follow me, I’ll show you to the former labs, they’re on the sixty-fourth floor and above…” Eli’s heart dropped. He had no clue if the elevators were still functional after all the damage the building had sustained. Today was not a good day to be climbing sixty-plus floors. 

Soon enough, he thankfully found out the elevators were functional up until the fiftieth-something floor, he wasn’t paying too much attention, mind too absorbed in the fear of what had lied ahead. A few flights of stairs later, they had come to a stop in front of a set of doors that seemed to be sealed shut, whether it had been from the damage of the meteor or if it was done beforehand on purpose, he couldn’t tell. After a few minutes the doors slid open.

He wanted to throw up.

The first thing that was noticeable was the smell. The putrid smell of chemicals and decay almost made him regret taking on the job and turn away. Reeve and Rude didn’t seem to be too pleased by the smell either. Nevertheless, he was grateful when he was handed a respirator. 

“Here, in case any toxic chemicals are present.” Rude said as he handed over the respirator and Eli immediately put the mask on. Shouldn’t he really have a hazmat suit?

The second thing he had noticed was the fact it was dim. Extremely dim in fact. 

Ideas of the possibility this was a trap and he was about to get murdered appeared in his mind. But he was relieved when a lever was pulled and lights shone brightly, although the lab was still very dark.

Thirdly, but most certainly not lastly, he noticed the tanks, the walls were lined with them, many being stacked on top of each other. Elijah felt the bile creeping up his throat at their contents. Swallowing, he decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to throw up in a mask.

Gaia, he was a doctor, he was meant to look after the living, not the dead.

For a few minutes, he stood in the middle of the lab, only observing and figuring out where the hell he was going to start. 

As soon as that thought had crossed his mind, another made itself known.

“Am I the only one working here?” 

Reeve and Rude looked nervous.

“For now, yes.”

Well shit. They were going to leave it to one doctor, who wasn't even trained in this field of work, to identify, label and dispose of the remains of what must be thousands of test subjects? 

“At least on the floor you’re working on.” Elijah snapped round.

“I’m not working on this floor?” He was about to get shot, wasn’t he? But much to his surprise, Reeve walked passed him and to another elevator on the other side of the room, he assumed that was how they had transported experiments.

Reluctantly following him, Rude pressed a button and the elevator went up. As soon as they had got to their floor, Eli stepped out. Okay, now he was certain now he was screwed.

There were even more tanks lining the walls, albeit a different design from the ones below him. Thankfully the putrid smell had seemed to stay on the previous floor. Pointing to his mask, Rude nodded, signalling it was now safe to take the mask off. Taking a breath he looked around. 

There was a platform with computers and leavers in the middle, while walkways lead to tanks all around the room. How high up was he in the building? He would have to ask later that’s for sure.

“Why this floor? What’s so different about it?” He asked, stepping closer to one of the tanks, which seemed to be more like mortuary fridges than the experiment tanks he had seen on the previous floor.

He was only met with silence. 

Elijah was beginning to get worried about the lack of response, so turning around, he was surprised to find the two men looking uncomfortable, looking between each other, not really knowing what to say.

After a few more seconds of consideration, Tuesti spoke. “This… is where they kept former employees after death so they could keep the bodies… how do I put this…intact with lack of decomposition.” 

He slowly nodded. That explained the mortuary fridges at least. But there were so many… and how was there no smell? That didn’t make sense.

As if he had almost sensed his next question, Rude spoke. “Even after the meteor had destroyed parts of the building and plate, this area remained functional and still does so till this day.”

Oh…

One more question was bugging at his mind, but he didn’t have the chance to ask before Reeve had asked him to follow him to the centre of the room. Eli could only pray the catwalk wouldn’t suddenly collapse.

It had seemed the WRO hadn’t stolen all of Shinra’s chairs in this lab, with several chairs circling the desk.

“This is the space where you’ll be mostly working. You can access all of Shinra’s files from here for identification purposes. Of course, there is the risk of the bodies being mutated after all this time, so if you request, we can have guards to act as a safety caution…” Eli just shrugged as Reeve talked, this was all pretty standard mortician work, save for the fact they were in one of the most secure places in the world dealing with victims and not people who got to live to their lives to the fullest but- “Oh, and one more thing.”

“Hm?” 

Reeve handed him a file. “Here are names of people we still have an interest in, so I’d recommend going through it and familiarising their details in the event you encounter their remains.”

Eli grabbed the file and flicked the first page open. The contents had a few names, maybe about thirty to fifty names. This was most likely going to be his most carried file it would seem, he would constantly have to compare the faces of the deceased to pictures of when they were alive. He just hoped that the body bags would at least have their names. “Some names have asterisks by them, what does that mean?” 

“That means they are more important than the others on the list, and we should be informed of them immediately, but exercise more caution with them till backup arrives. Your safety should be a top priority.” Rude spoke, barely shifting from his spot. 

Soon enough, both of them had left and Eli was free to check through the files as he had pleased. The job itself wasn’t going to be pleasant he knew, but he hoped that ultimately, this was the right thing to do, despite his employers and some closure would be provided to the families. 

Flicking through the file Reeve had given to him, the doctor, now acting mortician, tried to at least memorize some of the names with the asterisks. Thankfully, it would seem Reeve at least put them on a separate page, along with pictures. He wondered for a moment what made them so special compared to the others on the list or any of the ones that weren’t. What had they done that made Shinra and the WRO so concerned?

Leaning back, Elijah realised he should have asked where to get some coffee.

~~~~

The first few days passed mostly uneventful. It was most of the same thing over and over again. But what had made his job difficult thus far, was the fact Shinra hadn’t bothered to use their names and instead use codes of random numbers and letters(or even body bags for that matter). This, of course, meant that Eli now had to learn an entirely new system just to make some small steps towards identifying every body.

And there had to be at least a hundred of them.

He wasn’t sure if the codes even made sense either, they didn’t seem to have any coherency or consistency like it had all been made up by a madman on a rampage. But then again, this was Shinra, so maybe it was. Whoever it was, Eli now thoroughly hated him more then he had done previously, and he wasn’t even sure if that was possible.

Some days, he made checks on the faces, just to see if any had matched the list of the faces that he was given by Reeve. There was no luck thus far, and he knew the lack of process was beginning to take its toll on him. Days at the clinic were becoming more difficult as his body faced exhaustion. The doctor briefly wondered if he should hire an assistant or another doctor, now that he could afford it. 

But he didn’t know many other people in the medical profession that needed work and who he could trust. Eli could live without the help for now, but if things were going to continue, he was going to need some help.

After finally discovering where he could get coffee, Elijah chugged the liquid down like a madman himself. At least he didn’t almost fall asleep at his desk again. Two jobs really could be exhausting… At least his clinic and patients were better off…

Checking the time on his watch nine-twenty-six pm, only thirty-one minutes after he had last checked. Time was slow today, and he was close to just giving up for the day and taking a nap. He could really use more sleep.

Six hours every night really wasn’t enough sleep for a person, he knew. He could always push it to seven, but that left him with less time to do the mandatory checks on his clinic and less time to open in the morning, but there was no way he was going to open later every day for the sake of his sleep schedule.

Deciding to do one more check of faces. He hadn’t encountered any of the ‘asterisk’’ faces he had come to memorise in the past few days he had been working in the lab. Elijah wasn’t sure if he should be thankful or concerned about that fact.

Drinking the rest of his coffee that was beginning to go cold, Eli stood up despite the protests of his joints and his sleep-deprived mind that had wanted him to simply lay down on the desk and fall asleep.

‘Just a few more hours and you can sleep…’ He thought in a haze as he picked up the quickly becoming crumpled file. Would he even be able to recognise the faces with his fatigue?

Opening one door, he looked down upon the faces, chest aching. No. He closed the door and moved on.

Another, no.

Another, no.

Another, no.

Wait-

Eli almost threw open the door and took a look at the face. He quickly flicked through the file and immediately his eyes went to a picture.

“Got you.” He breathed, and it was one of the ‘asterisk’ names no less.

He ran over to his desk and called Reeve on his phone that had been given to him.

“Hey, Reeve? I found one of those names you were looking for...his name? Oh, hang on…”

He glanced down to the file.

“Zachary Fair.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm just going to quickly say. Sorry this one is so late, even though its only the second chapter. I came across a few problems during the week, like my Internet kept dropping so I couldn't access the doc in which I wrote this chapter!
> 
> Also, thank you again to Seth, who beta read this for me!

“We have to tell Strife.” He hears a copper-red-headed Turk say. He can’t describe what the emotion is in her voice, but he doesn’t have to look up to know she’s clearly upset.

The room is silent, like everyone except him knows that she’s right, but none of them are willing to admit it, or at the very least, that it’s a good idea.

“Who’s Strife?” Eli asks, head tilting to the side. He shifts in his spot where he’s leaning against the desk, arms folded over and uncomfortable with the ongoing silence. He briefly wonders if any of them heard him, because none of them reply, maintaining the grim expressions on their faces. “Who’s Strife?” He repeats again, a little louder this time and they clearly hear him, because they all share a moment of looking between each other nervously.

Oddly enough, it’s the same Turk who speaks again, as if she’s the only one willing to say anything. “Cloud Strife. He was… Zack’s friend. They tried to escape Shinra together.”

“Oh…” Elijah isn’t quite sure what else to say, but at the very least, he could understand the sentiment of wanting to get away from Shinra. “...What happened?” Immediately, he almost wishes he could take back the question. There's an indescribable shift in the air, and it tempts Eli just to run out the room and down the elevator. 

Feeling like he should just sink back into the shadows and go back to work, he goes to do that, but that’s when Tseng looks at him in the eyes, still calm and collected. “Both Fair and Strife were used as experiments by Professor Hojo, and were held for four years as his guinea pigs. Eventually, as Cissnei said, they escaped and tried to make their way back to Midgar for unknown reasons.” Unknown reasons? Was he withholding some information back on purpose? “They were eventually tracked down and ambushed by a battalion. Fair was shot down and Strife survived.” 

“Shinra must have taken his body afterwards as Strife was heading back to Midgar.” Reeve’s jaw tightens, his eyes calculating and wondering.

Eli resists the urge to look back towards the mortuary fridge where the body was currently laying. “Right…”

He’s told to keep the body in the fridge for now, undisturbed, at least until anyone can figure out what to do. But admittedly, none of them knew how long that would be, or what’s going to be done in the first place. You would think that if they were looking out for the body of a former SOLDIER, they would know what was going to happen, but apparently not. Maybe nobody had actually expected to find one of the bodies.

“One more thing,” Tseng says as they’re all about to leave. “None of this leaves this room. Not a word is to be spoken outside of this lab to anyone.” Elijah almost remarked that it was in the contract, but the fact it was even reaffirmed keeps him silent. How serious was this compared to the usual work that took place here?

~~~~

When the day is over and done with, Eli feels like he desperately needs a drink even though it’s almost midnight and the clinic opens in 8 hours time. Although he figures one drink won't hurt and can’t take more than fifteen minutes, so with exhaustion beginning to fall upon him, he enters ‘Seventh Heaven’. 

Surprisingly, it’s relatively busy, although not with late night drinkers and people avoiding going home just yet, but mostly people going on night shift breaks, getting a meal before going back to work. Then again it was a weekday, so he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. 

The dark-haired woman from before spots him as he walks in, there's a flash of nervous curiosity in her eyes before she quickly replaces it with a smile.

“Hey! What can I get you?” 

“Uh, just a cider, thanks.” 

In a second, she’s grabbing a glass and pouring a drink as he pulls out his money and hands it over. Elijah thanks her once again and takes a sip. 

“Hey, Tifa!” The woman’s attention is soon turned to another customer. “Strife not helping you out tonight?”

Eli takes a sharp inhale into his drink at the name, and she probably senses his sudden change in mood because all of a sudden she’s looking him in the eyes, trying to figure out what he knows to have a reaction like he just did. He hopes years of being a doctor comes in handy as he forces his expression to calm and continues sipping the drink as if nothing has just happened. Looking away, he forces himself to think about anything else other than the names ‘Strife’ or ‘Zachary Fair’. Maybe about all the appointments tomorrow and the best approach to them, the medicine he has to order, the reorganising of files-

It’s obvious after that the woman is keeping a close eye on him, so the doctor quickly downs his drink, which he almost regrets as it bubbles back up, but he manages to keep his drink down and goes to make a swift exit out the bar. 

“Do any of you know who that is?” The woman’s voice reaches him as he approaches the door.

“Him? Yeah, he’s Elijah Hunt, he’s a doctor. The kid not doing any better?” 

The last bit of the conversation doesn’t process in his mind because all he can think after that moment, is how he’s screwed.

~~~~

The next day he swallows his pride and opens the clinic despite the fear radiating through his body. Everything is automated and it feels like his hands are frozen stiff. It must be pretty apparent to some of his patients, he realises, because some look at him with concern, even though they aren’t doing good themselves. Nevertheless he pushes on. 

It’s near enough mid-day when he gets a phone call. Without thinking, he picks up the phone and gives the usual introduction.

“Hello? Are you Doctor Elijah Hunt?” He hears a woman say and his heart drops.

Oh no.

“That’s me.” He tries to give off confidence but he’s sure the uncertainty and fear calls him out. 

“Ah, good! You see, I have a child living with me who… well, he has...-”

She’s quiet for a moment.

“Hello?” He asks after a few moments, wondering if by some luck there was a faulty connection. 

“Sorry… You see, he has Geostigma.”

Ah. It’s not till then does he really remember the last thing he heard at the bar. Was she hesitant because of her child’s illness? Not because of his reaction at the bar last night? It might be both but he hoped there was a little luck on his side.

“I see. Do you want him checked out?” Automatically, he’s grabbing his appointment planner and soon enough, there's an appointment for the kid sorted out for later in the week.

Leaning back in his chair, his heart is hammering in his chest and decides to take a moment to breathe. It should be fine… as long as Strife isn’t purposely brought up or something. 

~~~~

“Tifa called you?” Reeve says over the phone as Elijah tells him about the events of the bar and the phone call earlier in the day. It’s difficult to focus on work, he finds as he can’t stop thinking about what had happened earlier on. “If she is really up to something, it’s probably because she’s curious about your reaction to Strife.”

Tapping his pen against his desk, Eli sighed before clicking his pen to do some paperwork. “And if she does question my reaction last night, what do I say to her?”

There was a brief silence on Reeves end. “Say I spoke highly of him or something.” 

That...wasn’t entirely a bad idea. “Enough to invoke a bad reaction from me when mentioned?” 

“Well....nevermind.” He stopped, what was Reeve hesitating on saying? “Anyway, don’t worry about talking to Tifa, everything should be fine as long as you don’t mention...what has happened to either her or Strife.” 

~~~~

The day of the appointment came, and Eli prayed he wasn’t about to get murdered by a friend of Reeves.

As soon as she came in, bringing along a boy in tow, their eyes met and he did his best to put on a fake confidence once more.

“Ah, hello! Miss Lockhart, I assume?” He stood, holding out his hand for her to shake, which she took without hesitation. Gaia was her grip strong. 

“That’s me,” She nodded. “But call me Tifa, please.” 

“Alright, Tifa.” Elijah smiled. “And I assume you’re Denzel.” He held out his hand. The boy- Denzel, looked briefly surprised before he slowly took his hand and shook it.

The kid was quite shy, he soon found out, vouching to stay close to Tifa rather than be open and talkative with him. It wasn’t something he could be blamed for, of course. Perhaps Tifa had warned him to be wary of him just in case. 

When he had seen the Geostigma infliction upon his forehead, Eli resisted a grimace. The poor kid would probably only have a year left, maybe two if he was lucky. Of course, there was no cure, the best that could be done was to relieve the symptoms. He gave Tifa the appropriate medicine and strict instructions for when it was to be taken. They were about to leave when Tifa turned to the child.

“Hey, could you wait outside for a minute?” She asks Denzel, and Elijah’s heart drops. He’d almost forgotten about what had happened at the bar and thought he was in the clear without suspicion. Apparently he was wrong. “I’ve just got to ask the Doctor here about something, okay?” After a quiet ‘okay’ from the child, the two were left alone in the room.

“...how may I help you, Tif-?”

“Why were you at the bar last night?” 

Well that was a prompt change in attitude towards him.

Eli opened his mouth to talk. Pausing for a second, he looked to her with a slight frown. “...having a drink?”. 

Shaking her head, she looked at him with a stern look. “The first time you were there was with Reeve and Tseng, right? For a meeting… At least, that’s what Reeve told me when he asked to borrow the place for a few hours. But you came back a few days ago...I didn’t want to think too much of it but then you reacted that way to Cloud’s name...Why?”

No words would come to mind for a few minutes. There was no way she could be told about what had happened, so how did he explain himself to a woman who was probably just concerned.

"...Reeve spoke highly of him.” 

“Bullshit. If that were the case, you wouldn’t have practically inhaled your drink.”

Fuck. Reeve’s idea was bullshit itself.

“I really did go there just for a drink…” He stopped, hoping that she would see him being honest and not automatically assume it was a lie. “And with Strife...I…I’m temporarily being hired by the WRO and Shinra to go through their old research files.” Another truth, one he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to say, but close enough. 

Tifa sighed and sank down into one of the patients chair’s after a few moments. “I’m guessing you probably read Cloud’s file from when he was used by Shinra, huh…”

Of course she would go to that assumption. 

“No, actually. I haven’t got round to reading it yet, and I’m not sure if I will be the one who reads it, but…” Eli leaned back in his own chair. ”One of the Turk’s mentioned it briefly. I guess I just freaked slightly when I heard his name. I knew he was still around… I just wasn’t expecting to encounter people who know him.”

The room remained silent for a moment.

~

“...And that’s all?” Tifa asked, trying to decipher what the doctor was thinking. There had to be something else, she was sure. Whatever it was, it clearly made him nervous. Had Reeve asked him to keep it from her and Cloud? For what reason? What was it that Hunt knew that even Reeve was too afraid to tell them about?

He only nods to her question. It was as if he was saying ‘That’s the truth but I can’t say anymore.’ Tifa let go of the breath she was holding in the momentary silence and held out her hand.

“Well, it was good to meet you, Doctor.” Hunt had seemed surprised she had let go for a moment, before shakily taking her hand.

“Pleasure is mine, feel free to bring the kid back if he needs any more help.” Tifa nods in return and headed towards the door.

“Oh, one more thing?”

“Hm?” He tilted his head at her.

“Thanks for seeing Denzel. A few doctors refuse to see him because of it being Geostigma…” She gave a small smile before walking out the door. 

She spotted Denzel swinging his legs absentmindedly as he waited for her to return, and upon seeing her, he stood up from the chair and grabbed her open hand that she had offered him.

“Everything okay, Tifa?” the child asks as he looked up at her with curiosity. In return, she smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, everything is okay. I just had to ask him about the medicine he gave you.”

That seems to work, as Denzel nodded his head with a simple nod and ‘oh’.

Glancing backwards to the office door, she was certain she could hear the doctor release a shaky breath. It looked like Tifa would have to talk to Cloud when he got home…

~~~~

It was unusual for Cloud to be home this early. Tifa hadn’t expected him to already be home and sitting absentmindedly, leaning on his desk and flicking through yet another medical textbook she was almost sure he didn’t even understand. Denzel had quickly ran up to him and gave him a hug from behind, which almost knocked Cloud off his chair in surprise.

He looked up at Tifa. He gave her a nervous but soft smile, which she had gladly returned. But it wasn’t till Denzel had got distracted with some miscellaneous thing did she talk to him.

“I took Denzel to see another doctor today.” Cloud perked up and turned to face her. “He gave some medicine for him, so that should help for a while. Didn’t cost anything either, he doesn’t take payment when treating kids.” She could see Cloud was relieved when he let go of a breath. Tifa couldn’t blame him. Medicine was too expensive for anyone these days. “There's… also something else…”

“Hm?” Cloud’s eyes flashed for a moment, perhaps he thought bad news was coming. Although Tifa supposed it was technically. “The doctor I took him to see, his name’s Elijah Hunt. Do you know him by any chance?”

His eyes moved for a second, glancing around as he was thinking. “Sounds familiar. Not sure where though. Maybe I did a delivery for him or something.” Cloud shrugged, not really knowing what else to say.

Tifa bit her lip.

“He’s working for Reeve and Shinra. Something about going through old research files. At least, that’s what he told me.” Her hands pressed against the doorway as she leaned against it. Meanwhile Cloud’s eyes had snapped back to her’s and his expression quickly changed to what she was probably thinking when she had encountered the doctor at the bar a few days ago.

“Shinra? And he gave this information willingly? Or did you…?”

“Oh! No, no. He said it himself. I think he wanted to be honest but it was like…he was obligated to hold something back. I mean, with Shinra it's not surprising but… ” She sighed, not really sure how to express what she thought.

“Like Cloud bit his lip, his hands tapping against his desk in a nervous manner. “Do you think maybe his job is to read on…?”

“Maybe, but… I don’t know. I don’t want to think that maybe he has ties to anything with Hojo or Sephiroth.” Tifa moved her position from the door to Cloud’s bed, which she quickly sat down and folded her hands on her lap. “I… really don’t think that’s the case though. Like what he was thinking made him upset, or distressed.”

Cloud didn’t answer. Somewhere once again in deep thought. He did that a lot lately, Tifa had noticed, though she couldn’t begin to pretend to know what he was thinking. “Elijah Hunt, right?”

Tifa only nodded.

“I’ll see if I can speak to Reeve about him.”

~~~

If you had told Eli he was only approaching thirty, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. He had only just turned twenty-one when he had been deployed to Wutai, and even then, the war was beginning to wind down and probably didn't even see the worst of it. His eyes had seen enough war and blood to last lifetimes, but he refused to give up on being a doctor yet. It was his job to help people after all, and he wasn’t about to abandon them.

So at six AM, he dragged himself up the first elevator, not realising how eerily empty the building seemingly was on the upper floors than it usually was on the evening commute to the lab. It wasn’t until he had gotten to the second elevator and was about to enter did his phone ring.

“Reeve?” He glanced at the caller ID, thankful someone had come in and cleaned out the awful smell that has been lingering in the lower labs for his first few weeks. “Something wrong?”

“Elijah! Thank Gaia I got through, where are you?” The older man had asked in a frantic voice. Eli stopped short of the second elevator. He wasn’t late, was he?

“On my way to the lab. I’m currently on the lower labs so-”

“What?! You need to get out of there NOW! One of the experiments was still alive and got out, if it finds you, it will kill you. You need-” 

A loud bang from behind him almost made him drop the phone. Elijah slowly raised the phone back to his ear and tried to stay calm.

“R-Reeve?”

“Yes?”

“I think I found it.” He slowly glanced around and almost threw up. The doctor had no clue what the thing even resembled, blue, red and very scary were the only things processing in his mind as he stared. Eli needed to move, he knew, but nothing was responding even as he wanted to tug his limbs away from the spot.

He was fucking terrified.

Oh Shiva.

He was going to die here, wasn’t he?

Elijah could vaguely hear Reeve shouting at some guards? Turks, maybe? To get to him as quickly as possible. 

But he would be long dead before they got here…The creature itself swayed, as if it was taunting him to run.

It was then his survival instinct finally kicked in. Running to the elevator and slamming the door shut, he couldn’t help but scream in shock when it rammed up against the elevator doors. He quickly pressed the button to go up to his lab, he couldn’t go down after all, that was the other elevator.

If horror movies had taught him anything, he knew the chance of that thing clinging on to the bottom of the elevator was high.

He had to hide, but where? Behind the desk? Too obvious and exposed. A mortuary fridge? All the ones within reach were filled. But there were gaps between the fridges...

Quickly, he rushed to the nearest gaps between the mortuary fridges. It was a tight spot, but Elijah realised he didn’t really care. It was also the first time he had even managed to see behind the fridges… 

His panic was momentarily put to the side as he read the labels.

Liquid-nitrogen…?

A thud had brought him back to his senses. Eli quickly looked out to the gap that was the only thing between him and the monster outside. He couldn’t get himself behind the pipes. 

He would just have to pray it wouldn’t get him before anyone got here.

As it got closer, Eli did nothing but hold his breath.

In the distance he could hear the elevator going back down. Just a little longer.

The monster moved about the lab, looking around. Menacing wasn’t even the strongest word that could be used to describe it. It roared, and Eli gasped, quickly holding his hand to his mouth, hoping the creature didn’t hear the sound.

But of course, he wasn’t that lucky.

Even as Elijah pushed himself against the back of the space, the creature swiped his arm, as it tried to grab him out from his hiding spot. He didn’t feel the pain though. The fear of death made it seem like nothing at all.

Growling and scratching, the monster continued it’s endless pursuit, even if it couldn’t fit through the gap like Eli did. Although he swore he could see the fridges start to bend as the monster slowly made its way forward.

He really wasn’t going home tonight, was he?

It was strange, the calmness that had washed over him so suddenly. He was going to die, and probably end up in one of these fridges, wasn’t he, Elijah Hunt thought. It was going to be his final thought, along with something along the lines of ‘fuck you, Shinra.’ when a sword, gleaming in the dim lights of the labs, pierced through the monster like a hot knife through butter. But more bloody, of course.

The doctor could only gawp in awe and horror as it slumped to the ground, dead and defeated-but by who?

“Are you going to stay there, or are you going to come out?” A blonde man said as he wiped the remains of the blood on an old lab coat, thankfully not one of his.

Thoughts were probably not present, even as he crawled out from between the fridges and over the corpse of the experiment. What the hell was that thing anyway?

“You okay?” Then, did Elijah realise, he hadn’t said a word, adrenaline still pumping through his heart like a freight train.

“Y-Yeah...Thanks, uh…”

“... Cloud. Cloud Strife.”

Well shit. That monster probably should have just killed him instead of this. What was Strife even doing here?

“How...why-?”

Almost as if he sensed the question, Cloud spoke.

“I was talking to Reeve over the phone when that thing broke out. Figured I could help out so…”

“Oh…” As he began to calm down, he thought his heart suddenly came to a stop. His eyes slowly averted from the dead creature to his desk.

Where the file of Zachary Fair was laid wide open…

Cloud had obviously noticed his sudden distress, glancing over to the desk. “TIfa already told me what you do, if that’s what you’re worried about.” 

What? Had Tifa figured it out? Or had she just told him about the appointment?-

“Listen, working for Shinra, it isn’t a good idea. It’s better you terminate your contract and just forget-”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” Eli laughed nervously as he tried to walk to his desk casually. If his behaviour didn’t give it away, he’s sure his voice, too high to be calm and collected, would. As soon as he was in reaching distance of the file, he quickly closed it and buried it under a lot of miscellaneous folders and straightened them out, as if this was a natural action.

“You okay?” Strife asked, approaching him.

“I… I’m fine. Just a bit freaked out still, I guess.” He chucked, mostly out of nerves. “Fuck, I need more coffee.” 

Cloud seemed mildly amused at that. “Yeah, can tell. Get Reeve to give you the night off after this.” 

“As if this won’t just give me more paperwork.” Elijah jokes. Cloud only gave a slight ‘hm’ in response before giving him a quick pat on the shoulder.

The elevator came to a half, and Reeve, Tseng, Reno and Rude came pouring out the elevator. It took a moment for them to notice Strife and the dead experiment at their feet, but when they did, they slowly lowered their guns.

“Good luck with that paperwork.” Strife said before silently passing the Turks.

~~~~

“Gross, look at this mess.” Reno groaned as he examined the corpse. “Strife made a clean cut at least, but that’s still a lot of blood. I assume we’re the ones cleaning it up? Hunt here can’t do it now, can he?”

Rude coughed before speaking. “It’s our job to do whatever is necessary, that includes-”

“Clean up jobs, I know, I know…Still, the boss is going to have a hell of a time hearing about this one.” He remarked.

“Your boss?” Elijah questioned, grimacing as Reno was passed a body bag by Tseng, presumably for cremation. “Rufus Shinra still alive then?”

Both Reno and Rude paused for a moment, looking up to him with what was either contempt or sheer hidden surprise. After a moment, Reno stood.

“Who knows?” Cackling, he promptly went back to work. 

Soon enough, Eli had got the coffee he had wanted and he watched quietly, sipping at his beverage as the body was taken away. Reeve had been busy this whole time, he noticed. On the phone and talking to several different people. Being the leader of the WRO, it wasn’t exactly surprising, but Elijah had hoped he would have the chance to ask Reeve questions about Cloud. Those questions would have to wait, it would seem.

“I assume Cloud Strife didn’t see Zack Fair’s file.” Tseng had said to him while observing the work crews around him, trying to affirm that nothing else was going to pop out of nowhere and going to eat anyone.

“No, I made sure the file was closed before he even got near the desk.” He replied quickly.

“But what about beforehand. While the creature was attacking you, is it possible he saw the file then?” 

A reassurance was about to make its way out of the doctor’s mouth before he suddenly stopped. The file had been wide open, and the creature was certainly distracted enough for him to quickly grab the folder.

Almost dropping his long-awaited coffee on the floor, Eli leapt over to the pile of files he had quickly formed while Strife was observing him and grabbed the file off the bottom. 

His heart dropped and fear took over once more and suddenly it was like he couldn’t breathe. This wasn’t Fair’s file. He quickly grabbed another and checked it’s contents. It wasn't it either. He checked every file there was on his desk. 

Zachary Fair’s file was nowhere in sight.

His expression must have said enough, because Tseng, who usually seemed calm and collected, grimaced. 

“The file is gone…”

~~~~

He shakily grabbed his belongings as Reeve said he could go home. Eli was reassured that the missing file wasn’t his fault, and if Strife really had taken the file, he wasn’t likely to be in danger. But that did nothing for him as his hands shook and Reno and Rude escorted him to the building’s entrance. 

“Listen here, Cloud Strife may be someone who seems like a frightening individual, but he isn’t likely to hurt anyone without reason.” Rude had said as they rode down the elevator to the lobby.

That wasn’t what he was worried about. If Cloud did take the file, then how was he dealing with its contents? Eli himself wasn’t sure he would manage well if he found out a close friend was being preserved in a fridge, years after death. 

Perhaps he should call Tifa. Ask if everything was okay with Cloud, and to thank him again maybe. 

There was still something that was bugging him at the edge of his mind though, beyond all the worries of if Cloud Strife was okay or not and the frightening ordeal he had experienced upon arriving. Whatever it was, it was itching at the edge of his mind, and he couldn’t quite figure out what it was yet. What was it? What was so strange? 

Images of glass and the smell of the lower labs flashed through his mind. The glass was from the meteor, sure, but the smell.. .

“Hey, the smell that was in the lower labs, what was that?” Elijah glanced between Reno and Rude for an answer.

Reno raised an eyebrow. “Decomposition, from the subjects that were… a little less alive…y’know, because-” 

“And what were the upper labs missing?” 

Both Turks looked bewildered for a moment. 

“Missing?” Rude asked, looking to Reno, who only shrugged in response. 

Eli swallowed.

“Decomposition. There’s no smell, and all the bodies I’ve looked at lack degrading…Even in fridges, the bodies should be bone by now.” A moment of silence passed in the elevator. “We need to go back up.”

Rude had quickly pressed the button to go back up upon Elijah’s request. Both turks slightly followed behind as the doctor had strided back to the upper labs. Upon arriving back at his workplace, Reeve and Tseng looked slightly surprised to see him back so soon. But his focus wasn’t on them. 

Firstly, he peeked behind the bent mortuary fridge. Liquid-nitrogen was labeled clearly. Then, he strided over to a random cabinet that had bothered him when he looked through it. There were medical supplies inside. Eli couldn’t have made sense of that before, and had assumed it was meant for the staff in the event of an emergency. By this point, all eyes were on him as he grabbed a room thermometer before nervously walking over to the mortuary fridge where Zack Fair laid. 

Opening the fridge, he tried to ignore the person beneath him. He stuck the thermometer on the wall and watched the temperature go down. Way below the normal for preserving bodies. Cautiously, unzipped the body bag, pressed two fingers against his neck and waited. 

“What’s going on?” Reeve asked.

Eli turned to him with a nervous look.

“These aren’t mortuary fridges. These are cryo tanks.”


End file.
